Cave conservation is the protection and restoration of caves to prevent or minimise the effects of human activity.
Some caves have delicate features that can be disturbed by changes in light levels, humidity, temperature or air flow. Caves that have lighting that remains on are prone to having algae grow within the cave changing the appearance and ecology. Speleothems grow as a result of water both on cave surfaces and the humidity of the cave air. Changes to these because of a high number of visitors, changes to the cave air flow and changes to the hydrology will alter speleothem development.
Speleothems can have a slow growth rate and therefore removing them as souvenirs or breakage due to movement within the cave will be visible for a long time, often throughout several generations of human interaction.
The use of calcium carbide for lamps has led to soot marks and deposits of discarded spent carbide. Using electric lamps avoids these problems.
Famous quotes containing the words cave and/or conservation:
“The human mind is indeed a cave swarming with strange forms of life, most of them unconscious and unilluminated. Unless we can understand something as to how the motives that issue from this obscurity are generated, we can hardly hope to foresee or control them.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)
“The putting into force of laws which shall secure the conservation of our resources, as far as they may be within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, including the more important work of saving and restoring our forests and the great improvement of waterways, are all proper government functions which must involve large expenditure if properly performed.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)